Friday, June 10, 2016

Finishing Up in the Stream. 6-5-2016

After the previous day's15 hour adventure, it's no surprise that we slept in a bit on Sunday morning. It also turned out to be a good thing that we did the Petting Zoo on Saturday because it was cool and rainy this morning. It made our decision to spend our time stream-herping that much more sensible.

We got some breakfast at Wawa and yes, their chocolate donuts made an appearance. I regret nothing. This Mockingbird watched us, though... and mocked me the whole time. "Fatty... eat some sugar why don'tcha..."

While driving along, we saw this trail sign and made a fast U-turn for a photo-op.
Dear, loving Andrea, tried to throw the devil horns but said I Love You in American Sign Language instead. I love you, too.

Those rocks behind the sign looked inviting. We flipped a small, chilly Garter there.
It would be our only snake on the day.

We eventually made our way to our target destination, a small stream that cuts through a lovely green area. Our targets were Spring Salamanders, an adult Red, Two-lines and Wood Turtles. The weather didn't seem too great for Woods to haul out and bask but we kept our eyes open in the water.

I will disclose this fully... I almost immediately flipped an adult Spring and it gave me several chances to net it, catch it by hand or just take a photo but I failed in every way. Grrr... I wasn't awake yet, I guess. Also, my glasses were fogging up like mad. Excuses, excuses. A few Two-lines handed me my ass, too.

Dookies, however, were plentiful, variable and downright Desmog-erriffic!

Andrea went off to spend some time with a young fawn who had come down to the stream for a drink. While she couldn't nail any great photos, the time spent was very rewarding for her.

Meanwhile, I decided to go upstream a little. I swear, it might have been the same Spring that eluded both my camera and my net for the second time. I managed a Spring larvae, however.

Again, no Reds but I flipped a beautiful Redback. I sense a theme here...

I was toast. Flipping the morning away, walking through the stream in 100% humidity... I sat on a rock in the water and wondered if I had the stamina to make the 6 hour drive home.

Andrea and I hitched back up and took a long walk to the bridge there. We had found Two-lines up there the year before. Yes, we hiked through the rain for a mile to find a species that we have closer than that to our house. But we flipped plenty of rocks and logs along the way, hoping for a salamander or resting snake. This bright Two-lined Salamander made it worth our while when we got there.

I was ready to turn back and hit the road but Andrea wanted to check out a few more stones up where we were. Why not? There were plenty of pretty Dookies still to be found.

We got to a lovely clump of out-growth in the stream, scattered with perfect Spring rocks... flat, half in, half out of the water. Andrea flipped a Red larvae.

This Dook was hanging out in the water.

OK, we ready to go now? Andrea pointed to an obvious, flat rock on top of the clump. "You get this one?" I said I probably had. She flipped it anyway. The most well behaved adult Spring Salamander ever was sitting there waiting for a photo session.
It actually crawled up and out of the container and up Andrea's sleeve. Best friends forever.
Success!

So, that was our day. We went back to the car and got ready for a long drive home. The fog was unbelievably thick in some parts. I even had to resort to a nasty cup of coffee half way... that's how desperately tired I was. (How the hell do you people drink that sludge?) But we made it and have a ton of wonderful memories from the weekend. Many thanks to everyone with whom we got to spend some time. What a special weekend. And Matt, we're planning a special trip just to see your cute little face. We missed you.

Let me end this with a question... is this the sexiest street sign ever?
Hubba hubba.